Sometimes you find an old photo online and it captures your imagination.  You see the smiling kid and wonder where he is today.  You see a small suburb and wonder who lives there today.  You see a car and wonder what sort of Toyota it has been reincarnated as.

Last week, I saw the photo below for the first time:

The car looks well-appointed, but the nose is off.  You may think it was getting ready for a v8-60 swap, or maybe it was getting ready to become a dragster.

You would have thought that until you saw the next photo I was shown of it.  Here it is, just a couple of years later:

Somehow, the car seems a bit sportier, a bit glossier, and the street a little more relaxed looking.  The car looks to have been refreshed and given a new lease on life.  However, the date on the photograph hints that it was taken in 1958.  Despite how good it looks, the question remains, what happened to it in the intervening five decades between then and now?

Would you believe it if I told you it was on the road until 1966 and then carefully stored for decades?

Would you believe that it was back on the road fifteen years ago?

Would you believe that it was put back into storage until not that long ago?

I wouldn’t have either, but here it is in all of its glory:

Not only has this car been remarkably preserved, it’s currently for sale.  Will you be the lucky new owner of a survivor Bantam Deluxe Roadster?

Click here to see the listing.